Welcome to the Consumerist Archives

Thanks for visiting Consumerist.com. As of October 2017, Consumerist is no longer producing new content, but feel free to browse through our archives. Here you can find 12 years worth of articles on everything from how to avoid dodgy scams to writing an effective complaint letter. Check out some of our greatest hits below, explore the categories listed on the left-hand side of the page, or head to CR.org for ratings, reviews, and consumer news.

As the old saying goes, crime doesn’t pay. But in some cases, being honest — and patient — can certainly reap financial rewards, as one man now gets to keep $15,200 he turned in after finding it on the street. [More]

Can’t be bothered to carry a debit card, but need some cash on the go? Not a problem for Wells Fargo customers with smartphones, as the bank is rolling out its cardless technology at all of its roughly 13,000 cash machines. [More]

There are plenty of restaurants and businesses that refuse to accept anything other than cash, but one Baltimore coffee shop is swinging the other direction after getting robbed one too many times. [More]

It is a rule universally acknowledged in crime writing that if you stash your ill-gotten gains under the mattress, someone is eventually going to find it. Just like the $20 million in cash hidden in a box spring that federal agents found in Massachusetts this week. [More]

You know what it looks like: it’s buried way in the back of the corner store or your local watering hole, covered in a thin layer of grime from all those who have punched its keypad before. It’s the ubiquitous non-bank ATM, and it could be vanishing from some familiar spots in the near future with new policies at MasterCard and Visa that shift the blame for fraudulent transactions. [More]

Between PayPal’s Venmo, Facebook’s Messenger, Chase’s Quickpay, Square’s Cash, and other money-sending services, there’s no shortage of ways for friends to quickly send each other a few dollars to split the check at dinner. But with the convenience of such apps, are we forgetting our manners or just finally holding our friends accountable? [More]

Say you go to the store with a friend and you each buy the same lamp for $150. The only difference is you pay in cash and your pal pays with plastic. The dollar amounts are the same, the purchased product is identical, but a new study finds that your levels of emotional investment in that lamp are likely different. [More]

The bright pink mustaches and the “U” decals used to designate ride-sharing vehicles for Uber and Lyft have found a second purpose: making their owners quick cash on sites like eBay. While selling the insignias might be a good way for former drivers to pad their wallets — sometimes by thousands of dollars, it means the decals might be used for other purposes. For that reason, always be sure to double check the license plate, and driver’s name before getting in a hailed vehicle. [Business Insider] [More]

If you work in a restaurant, finding a large amount of cash on the table might be one of those moments where you think you’ve just lucked out and scored a huge tip from some abnormally generous person, and you figure the money is yours to keep. Or, if you’re like one Applebee’s server who recently discovered $32,000 left behind, you turn it in and save the day. [More]

A maintenance employee for Walmart thought he was doing the right thing by handing over a stack of bills totaling $350 that he found discarded in the store’s parking lot. But instead of being thanked for his honesty, the man says he was fired because he waited 30 minutes before handing over the cash. [More]

Sure, all humans make mistakes, and sometimes we even make mistakes at work. However, you have to feel really sorry for the ATM company employees in New Jersey who left a bag containing $141,000 outside of a building where they were working…and accidentally left the bag behind. Local police say that the employee responsible for leaving the bag had to be transported to the hospital when he learned that it had been stolen. We hope that he’s okay, but there’s something very weird about this incident. Update: Police have found the people who allegedly took the money, one of whom happens to have recently bought a $46,000 SUV in cash. [More]

When you do a good deed, you probably don’t do it just because you’re anticipating a good reward. But at the very least, a pleasant “thank you” is surely something you could expect. But one Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits customer says not only was he not thanked for returning between $4,000 to $4,500 in cash he found in a bag that was supposed to contain his food, but was treated with downright disrespect by restaurant staff. [More]

It sounds like a dream come true: the doors of an armored truck fly open, and cash comes flying out, all over the road, just begging to be scooped up by passers-by. But even when dreams become reality, that doesn’t mean loose money is free money, which is why police in Baltimore are asking the public to return cash that spilled from an armored vehicle earlier this week. [More]

Banks all across Greece are closed today, and will remain closed for the rest of the week. Not because it’s a holiday, but because the Greek government is trying to stop the banking system from collapsing as money flows out of the country while its long-running debt crisis reaches a critical point. As a result, tourists in Greece are finding themselves unable to pay for basics like food and shelter. [More]